September 13, 2009

Virginia prosecutors seeking November execution date for DC sniper

This CNN article details that Virginia prosecutors are hoping to execute the condemned DC sniper, John Allen Muhammad, before the end of this year:

Virginia prosecutors are asking a state court to set a November 9 execution date for John Allen Muhammad, convicted in a series of sniper-style shootings that terrorized the Washington area in 2002. In a letter dated Wednesday, Senior Assistant Attorney General Katherine B. Burnett said the November date "has been carefully coordinated with the governor's office to insure his availability for any clemency petition Muhammad may wish to pursue." Burnett enclosed a copy of a proposed execution order "for the court's convenience."

Muhammad's attorney said he will file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court, and will ask the governor for clemency. During a three-week period in October 2002, police say, Muhammad and his young protege, Lee Boyd Malvo, shot 13 people, killing 10. The two also are suspected in other shootings and murders in Tacoma, Washington, Montgomery, Alabama, and the Washington, D.C., area.

Muhammad, now 48, was convicted of murder in the death of Dean Harold Meyers at a Manassas, Virginia, filling station. Meyers was killed by a single bullet, which became the signature of the two-person sniper team.

Ultimately, Muhammad was convicted of the Meyers' killing and of one Maryland murder, which prosecutors there said was "insurance" in case the Virginia conviction was overturned. Malvo was convicted of one Virginia shooting and was sentenced to life imprisonment....

The letter, addressed to the chief judge of the Prince William County Circuit Court, says the court must hold a hearing within 10 days of receiving the letter, and must set an execution date no later than 60 days after the hearing.

Comments

Awful lot of pointless procedures and lawyer hours. Is there some doubt we have the wrong person? Get on with it if not.

123D. Had it been applied in the military, long ago, in his past, we would be 10 innocent people ahead. There would have been no disruption of the capital region. And, the local economy would not have suffered $millions in losses, as people stayed home out of fear. The lawyer kept him alive to inflict this devastating crime spree.

Yes, this case makes it difficult for even the most avid death penalty opponents to maintain their views. But I do. Although, thinking of inmates such as Bill Heirens over in Illinois who has spent 60+ years in prison, or Montell Johnson, an inmate with multiple sclerosis who is mostly paralyzed and weighs 70 lbs., I can't say that LWOP is a more humane sentence, either.

(By the way, Mr. Johnson was pardoned by Rod Blagojevich but has a pending murder conviction in California. Despite his progressive and chronic disease, and despite California's dire budget situation, they are still fighting to have Montell sent out there to finish his life sentence. The move alone will cost upwards of $25,000, not to mention the medical care he would need once incarcerated.)

If the death penalty is so cruel, let the inmate choose. Offer death to everyone with LWOP, with no possibility of appeal of the sincere and competently made choice by left wing officious intermeddlers. The latter don't really care about the inmate. They just care about the rent.

If you fail to execute him, you immunize all future crime. He has an absolute, privileged license to kill. James Bond can be second guessed by civil service inquiries. This bird does not have to face that hassle.